Barrel Roofs

We’ve travelled up the Stratford canal having left busy Stratford town behind, and are moored tonight at Kingswood Junction, where the canal passes very close to the Grand Union, and where both are linked. Both canals go to Birmingham, however the Stratford canal is a ‘narrow’ canal with narrow locks (OK for us), whereas the Grand Union is a ‘wide’ canal with wide locks which quite often have heavy locks – we’ll take the easier route.

The Stratford canal passes through some really lovely countryside, and each of the locks are in attractive rural settings.  When the canal was built, each lock (or flight of locks if a number were close together) would have been the responsibility of a resident lock-keeper who lived with his family ‘on the job’ right next to ‘his’ lock.  Around the system, most lock-keepers cottages are conventional square buildings, however on a this canal a number were built with a ‘barrel roof’. It’s said that the wooden formers used to construct the bridges crossing the canal were given a second life as roof supports on the cottages.

A barrel roofed cottage

An extended barrel roofed cottage, recently sold for £550,000 !

All of the cottages have been sold off to private owners or the years, and do make for very nice canal-side properties it has to be said. The canal itself is a delight :

The Stratford Canal

Vivid sky in the evening

At one lock we were right by the M40 motorway – the canal passes underneath. We did feel (briefly) sorry for those above us hammering along at 70 mph plus, whilst we ambled along at walking speed, but they were soon out of earshot and forgotten !

The M40. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve whizzed over the top in my own car – much more relaxing on the canal !

At another, we came across a recently installed Anthony Gormley (of Angel of the North fame) statue right by the side of the lock. It appeared to be admiring the engine through the side doors !  In the canal press there seems to be divided opinion as to whether it is appropriate or not – we thought it quite fun, but not really sure what it had to do with the canal.  I think it’s one of a number around the country.

He did look a bit rusty !

And finally …… a few days ago Deb (Mrs Hunt) wanted another mention in despatches, so having found the following photo, she wasn’t going to be out done !

Not much change in 100 years !

Heavy Shopping

We’ve never before thought about choosing which shopping to buy based on weight, but we do now! We used to drive to the supermarket, put the shopping in a trolley, lift bags into the boot of the car, and carry them indoors once we arrived home. Occasionally we might have commented that one or another bag was ‘a bit heavy’.  It’s not until you have to carry shopping over a distance that any real thought is given to its weight.  We thought we had it cracked on the  boat by using a rucksack. We have a choice – 35 litres, or 65 litres.

One happy shopper

We tried the 35 litre one first, but you wouldn’t believe how much carrots, potatoes, wine, and beer actually weigh (after a mile or so). My back has been playing up a bit so Deb kindly offered to do the carrying, however we now shop by weight (forget the price !).

One collapsed shopper

As You Like It

I wonder what Stratford-upon-Avon would have been like if it were not for William Shakespeare ?  We arrived at Stratford on Tuesday afternoon – Stratford is about as far as it’s practical to navigate upstream on the Warwickshire River Avon. We shared some of the locks on the way here with a widebeam boat (well 1m wider than our Brutus), which makes it far easier to lock upstream, as the boats are more easy to control when two take up the space.  Nevertheless on these river locks it is important to let the water in slowly as a lock is filled -they’re considerably more ‘aggressive’ than ordinay canal locks. Surprisingly, not all of the locks are the same width, so we had to do a couple on our own.  Last night was spent on the river, moored oposite the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, a complex far larger than I’d anticipated.

Moored across from the RST

I remember studying a couple of Shakespeare plays at school many years ago, but didn’t realise that he actually wrote 37 plays and 154 sonnets – quite prolific really.  Stratford is supposed to be second only to London in popularity with overseas visitors to the UK, and as a result prices for food and drinks in the restaurants and cafes  look to be somewhat inflated when you look at the menus outside – it’s an expensive occupation being a tourist in the UK !  Many of the hostelries are ‘Shakespeare’ themed too – for example the ‘Pen and Parchment’, the ‘Encore ‘, and rather unimaginatively, the ‘Shakespeare Inn’. A walk around the town reveled a number of Tudor buildings :

Shakespeare’s birthplace

The Library

King Edward’s School

Of course, a town like this wouldn’t be complete without some bronze statues.

Hamlet (with Shakespeare behind)

Falstaff

Lady Macbeth

This afternoon I took the opportunity to do something completely different, and visited the Museum of Mechanical Art and Design.  It was full of very clever moving mechanical ‘sculptures’ made of wire, meccano, and wood, and a clock in particular caught my eye. Below (should be) a video of it.

 

 

 

 

Evesham (and the Piddle)

Evesham appears a rather mixed place – we moored on the ‘Workman Garden’ moorings, just downstream from Workman Bridge, which contrary to what you might think,  was actually named after Henry Workman.  He was mayor of Evesham in the 1850s and oversaw much of the fund-raising  both for the building of the main bridge crossing in 1856, as well as extensive dredging of the river. The dredgings were used along the bank to create the gardens where we moored.

The trip up to Evesham from Pershore involved passing through another four large locks, one of which was a diamond shape rather than the normal rectangular shape. Apparently it was made this shape to help reduce the effect of the inrush of water when the lock is filled. It didn’t seem any different to all the others to be honest, so we’re not sure why either they’re not all diamond or all rectangular. The lock was called Wyre Piddle lock, and shortly after the lock we passed Tiddle Widdle Island. Surely it’s only in England that we can happily name things like this! We also spotted a couple swimming down the river – perhaps there’s something in the water !

 

Wyre Piddle lock

Mad swimmers !

The moorings were on the ‘other side’ of the bridge, and historically because many riverside towns grew up without a proper crossing, it made them more easy to defend. It would only be when a bridge was built that there may have been an opportunity for the ‘poorer’ of the town to be relocated to the other side of the river.  Today, whilst the centre of Evesham has mostly conventional high street shops, the other side of the bridge has a good number of Eastern European shops (Polish etc).

For hundreds of years the Abbey would have been the focal point of the town, having originally been established in the 1100s. With the Abbey was a 100 ft tall Bell Tower, and two churches – All Saints, and St Lawrences, sharing the same churchyard.

Depiction of the Abbey and churches. The Abbey was destroyed during Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monastries in 1540, the churches and bell tower survived.

It’s said that pilgrims used to travel to Evesham to see the Abbey shrines, but we’re only allowed to worship in one of the churches, to avoid disease spreading to the locals who used the other one !

One of the only remaining parts of the Abbey

Adjacent to where the churches are is the Almonry, dating again from the 12th century.  It really is a magnificently preserved building, although we were a bit too late to go inside and have a look.  An Almoner was a church official who’s duty it was to give alms to the poor and needy, and the Almonry would have been where he undertook his duties.

Evesham Almonry

There were some other interesting buildings in the centre of Evesham, and a square which made us think we’d been teleported to the continent !

 

 

Up the River

The River Avon is quite a bit different from the River Severn.  Both can flood (extensively), and both have large locks, although those on the Avon are actually no bigger than a wide canal lock. Whereas it is difficult to see over the banks of the larger river, the Avon by contrast affords open vistas across the south Worcestershire countryside. Bredon Hill does rather seem to follow you as the river meanders back and forth though.  It’s hard to imagine the river in full spate after heavy rain – there seems to be virtually no flow at all at the moment.  Having said that, each of the river locks are accompanied by large and somewhat intimidating weirs and sluice gates, which do look to have a lot of water flowing over them. We can remember from canoeing trips in the past just how deceptive a gentle-looking river flow really is !  The River Avon was originally made navigable in 1636, and many of the crossing points were by hand operated ferries most of which have long gone. Some of the bridge crossings are pretty old too – the sandstone Eckington Bridge for example was built in the 1500s, and is still strong enough withstand traffic over it today !

Eckington Bridge

We arrived safely in Pershore and tied up at the town moorings. Pershore claims to have the best Georgian main street in England, and having gone exploring, whilst we’re not qualified to confirm the claim, most of the buildings in the high street certainly looked the part. A couple caught our eye in particular, both with balconies at the front.

This looked to be a very ‘Art Deco’ balcony addition to us – possibly 1920s/30s ?

This balcony might have been older

Just off the main street is the Abbey (or what remains after Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries, although it appears the nave may have been the main part destroyed.

The Abbey nave would have been to the left

Inside, it exuded an air of the ancient building it is – parts date from 1100 years ago.

Inside Pershore Abbey

In the Abbey grounds we came across a lovely carving by a sculpter Tom Harvey :

Carved out of the stump of a tree

Back in the town, we came across a coffee shop with great idea to beat the English weather but still keep that ‘pavement cafe’ feel.

The windows open up fully for nice days, but shut when it’s cold and wet (quite often this summer !)

 

 

Tewkesbury

Our mooring in Tewkesbury

Well here’s another little town with a long history – this time in Gloucestershire. Tewkesbury is bounded by rivers on three sides – the River Avon to the West, River Swilgate to South, and the Carrant Brook to the North. The latter two flow into the Avon, which itself joins the River Severn half a mile to the West of the town. Originally settled in Roman times, many of its town centre buildings date from a Medieval period – parts of Tewkesbury Abbey date from the early 1100s, including the Tower.

Looking toward the Abbey from the river

17th century merchant house. Note the ‘beadle’ hat at the front. A beadle was an important figure in authority in the 19th C.

The Berkley Arms. The facade is one of the oldest in Tewkesbury

Tudor buildings in the town centre

One thing we hadn’t come across before were a good number of narrow alleys and courts leading off the main streets.  Apparently they came about as a result of congestion in the town centre as the population grew. Of course, the rivers stunted potential growth outwards due the risk of flooding, so use was made of the land behind original properties that fronted the streets. The alleyways tended to demarcate the old burgage plots which defined land ownership in medieval times.

One of the many ‘alleys’ and ‘courts’

Entrance to Lilley’s Alley alongside a second-hand shop

Along Lilley’s Alley.

Medieval cottages in Lilley’s Alley.

Widow Lilly reputedly rented a china shop at the front – many of the alleys took their names from the occupiers.

Blue brick paving retained in an Alley or Court indicates a Right-of-Way still exists

The river itself is home to the usual wildlife culprits :

An inquisitive (or hungry) Tewkesbury swan

Down the River

Well, that was a rather ‘samey’ sort of day, by which I mean most of it was spent looking at largely the same thing – high river banks, willow trees, and just a very occasional other boat (or surf board). We’ve travelled 16 miles down the River Severn having set off from Worcester at around 7:30 this morning (early for us !).  The reason for the early start was the forecast of rain from lunchtime – we wanted to get to Tewkesbury before it started. We failed. Brutus seems to take half as long again as the canal guide book says, so it started raining an hour before we got there.

There were the odd moments of passing interest whilst on the River Severn – a paddle boarder, an aggregate barge, a huge house, a lovely Dutch barge, and of course Upton-on-Severn with its tiny visitor mooring pontoon. Other than that it was high river banks you can’t see over virtually all the way, and nowhere to stop.

This lady was on her own and miles from anywhere !

A rather nice Dutch barge

The aggregate barge (named ‘Perch’) is one of a few that are plying two miles back and forth on the river, carrying gravel from a quarry site near where the M50 crosses the river, to a processing plant further up.

Perch – one of the last commercial barges on the River Severn

The aggregate unloading wharf

The short river trip that the barges make apparently saves 116 lorry journeys a day, and costs half of that of the equivalent lorry loads.  Isn’t it sad that this is now the only commercial traffic on the River Severn after centuries of use as a main freight thoroughfare.

Because of the high river banks as we cruised down to Tewkesbury, we couldn’t see many signs of habitation, however one house did rather stand out.

‘Severn Bank’. Rather grand and big enough to be seen from river level !

A little bit of research (Mr Google) told us that it is ‘a secluded 19th century Grade 2 listed 8-bedroomed former hunting lodge, with 6 acres of garden and parkland, an indoor swimming pool and equestrian complex’. Currently on the market for £2 million – a snip !

Historic Worcester

Last nights dog walk took us for an hour and a half round the centre of Worcester – very quiet as it was past closing time, but it did give us a chance to take in some of the architecture.  Like most cities there is a mix of styles from different eons, however Worcester has managed to retain a good number, unlike some other cities which seem to relish in constant ‘renewal’.  The High Street, New Street, and The Shambles all have a fairly typical selection of ‘high street’ premises, including a number of larger chains, ‘pound’ shops, and banks, however looking above the ground floor frontages indicated how wealthy Worcester must have been for hundreds of years.

Always worth looking up when you’re walking along a high street

Another dramatic Worcester city centre building

Always worth looking above street level

The ‘jewel in the crown’ however is Friar Street.  This is right in the city centre and includes some of the oldest properties in the city, many dating from Tudor times. Timber was the main building material then and can suffer from changes in shape :

This is not an optical illusion !

Part way along Friar Street is a restored Tudor merchants house called Greyfriars. It dates from 1480 and was built by a wealthy Worcester family. Over the centuries it had many other occupants, and during the 1800s was divided into a number of separate shops. However it fell into dis-repair and by 1936 it was scheduled for demolition.

‘Greyfriars’ in Friar Street

A local brother and sister were that concerned they bought it, and devoted the next few decades to saving it, restoring the entire building to its former glory and furnishing it with period furniture, rugs, and tapestries. It was eventually passed to the National Trust who now manage it. Well worth a visit. Further along Friar Street on a corner is the Eagle Vaults pub. We didn’t go inside, but the outside was beautifully tiled.

The Eagle Vaults pub – a Grade 2 listed building dating from 1740, with a Victorian glazed tile exterior.

Earlier in the day I’d paid a visit to the ‘Commandery’, a restored mediaeval property which had again seen many uses over the centuries, and is now a museum with a ‘difference’.

The Commandery

It was established in the 12th century, became a monastical hospital caring for the elderly in the 1400s, the home of (another) Tudor merchant in the 1500s, the Worcester HQ of Charles II and one of his Royalist supporters, the Duke of Hamilton, toward the end of Civil War in the mid 1600s, home to a Georgian family in the 1700s, a college for the blind in the 1800s, and during the 1950s was a printing works !  The ‘difference’ was in how each period was represented – there weren’t reams of writing to trawl through or many period furnishings, but an audio guide that you took with you. In each of the 35 rooms you had the choice of tuning into any of the six periods on a handset learning about the room and those that might have occupied it at that chosen time in its history with appropriate sounds – very clever, as much relying on your imagination as anything visual.  Many things to photograph, but I’ve picked two which took my fancy :

Mediaeval construction marks on the timbers inside the Commandery building. Apparently all of the timber joints were marked individually so that the builders knew which piece fitted which.

Mediaeval paintings which remained covered for centuries, until discovered in 1935 during some work

 

 

Off to the Tower

Last night we got to Worcester and moored right in the centre outside of the ‘Commandery’, a 15th Century building at one time used as Charles II’s command post during the English Civil War.  We plan to visit it whilst here, as well as Greyfriars – a Tudor merchant’s house owned by the National Trust, however both are closed on a Monday so that’s for tomorrow.  Instead, we walked through the city to the magnificent cathedral.

Worcester Cathedral

The postbox in the photo below was on a street corner. It’s good to see that heritage still counts for something.

A ‘VR’ letter box – from Queen Victoria’s time.

Records apparently show that a place of worship existed at the cathedral site from 680 AD, and that much of the present building dates from around 1150. It really is a magnificent place, with access to the ancient crypt below, as well as up the tower.  We took a lot of photos, and whilst it’s free to go in to the cathedral you do have to buy a photo permit, and wear a badge – makes you feel like an official photographer though!  Having said that, my photography does leave a bit to be desired so apologies for the blurred picture below, but the inside was immense, but not quite light enough.

The main transept (with Deb for scale)

King John (of Magna Carta fame) has a tomb here, amongst a number of other lesser known (to me at least) bishops. The lecterns were very ornate, one in brass and the main one carved from different coloured marbles.

One the lecterns in the cathedral

The main lectern in the cathedral carved from marble

The highlight was a climb up 235 steps to the top of the tower, where the whole of Worcester, and the River Severn are laid out below, with a view to the Malverns in the West.

Deb looking wistfully over the Worcestershire countryside

View up the River Severn from the top

Across the river is Worcestershire’s county cricket ground, so we watched them playing Leicestershire for a while, including watching a very nice wicket taken !

Worcestershire playing Leicestershire at the county ground

Tommorow then, the Commandery and the merchant house, tonight though we’ve found a round-the-city walk online so the dogs will have a street walk later.

 

 

 

On the way to Worcester

Overnight in a little village called Dunhamstead

The high river level that held us up for a day or so, went down as quickly as it had come up, so we set off again having spent a pleasant couple of days in Droitwich Spa. We continued on to the Droitwich Junction Canal, which was restored with the building of three new locks, and restoration of three originals.

New locks built to a 200 year old design

Whilst the design of the new locks is as it would have been 200 years ago, the lock chambers are cast in concrete which like many concrete structures (eg 1960s town centre buildings), are likely to look a bit grubby after a while.   We continued up to the junction with the Birmingham and Worcester Canal (opened in stages from Birmingham, and fully open to Worcester by 1815).  This canal doesn’t suffer with being over run by the strangling Hymalayan Balsam like some others, but is reedy in places – good job we didn’t meet any other boats at the time.

Quite narrow here with reeds

There was one short (236 yards) tunnel, and some very picturesque typically English countryside. Tomorrow we plan to motor on to the grand city of Worcester.

Light at the end of the tunnel

How quintessentially English !